This Is Hell Lyrics by Elvis Costello

This Is Hell Lyrics

    this is hell


    Chorus:
    This is hell, this is hell
    I am sorry to tell you
    It never gets better or worse
    But you get used to it after a spell
    For heaven is hell in reverse

    The bruiser spun a hula hoop
    As all the barmen preen and pout
    The neon "i" of nightclub flickers on and off
    And finally blew out
    The irritating jingle
    Of the belly-dancing phony turkish girls
    The eerie glare of ultra violet
    Perfect dental work

    Chorus

    The failed don juan in the big bow-tie
    Is very sorry that he spoke
    For he's mislaid his punch line
    More than halfway through a very tasteless joke
    The fräulein caught him peeking down her gown
    He's yelling in her ear
    And all at once the music stopped
    As he was intimately bellowing "my dear . . ."

    Chorus

    The shirt you wore with courage
    And the violent nylon suit
    Reappear upon your back
    And undermine the polished line you try to shoot
    It's not the torment of the flames
    That finally see your flesh corrupted
    It's the small humiliations that your memory piles up

    This is hell, this is hell, this is hell.

    "my favourite things" are playing
    Again and again
    But it's by julie andrews
    And not by john coltrane
    Endless balmy breezes and perfect sunsets framed
    Vintage wine for breakfast
    And naked starlets floating in champagne
    All the passions of your youth
    Are tranquillized and tamed
    You may think it looks familiar
    Though you may know it by another name

    Chorus

    This is hell, this is hell.

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